You have black wings; just like me

Nana felt beside herself as she packed a backpack of clothes and food. She honestly thought she would never have to sleep without a bed again, and certainly wasn’t looking forward to the spending the night in the forest. She and the boys had finally found a home within a small village, they had to work hard for the humble lives they’d procured but she appreciated it all the same. Which is why when Cooro and those ridiculously cute puppy eyes asked her to go camping with him she’d said yes.Husky, ever the stubborn one, was unwavered by Cooro’s requests to join. As for Senri, while they had all grown over the past years he was still essential for having the physical strength to do manual labor, effectively being the main breadwinner of the house- he simply couldn’t take off with Cooro just for fun if they wanted to continue the living arrangement.“C’mon Nana!” Cooro ecstatically called, he’d been ready to head off for awhile by this point. “Coming, coming…” Nana half grumbled. She still couldn’t sympathize with his exuberance over what she was somewhat dreading, but all the same she followed out the front door to join him. If there were any traces of her hesitance over the excursion it instantly vanished as she was met with Cooro’s remarkable smile. She felt her cheeks redden again, the tightening in her chest as she tried to look normal. This had become something of a routine- she couldn’t say for sure when it started, (possibly shortly after his growth spurt made him taller than her) but undeniably she had a terrible crush on him.

Cooro, on the other hand, hadn’t started acting any different from when they were kids. Her attempts to be seen as a grown and attractive young lady had thus far failed spectacularly. So far she had tried wearing makeup (Nana had made some herself from home remedies), Cooro had asked her if she was sick. She’d tried giving him chocolate as a special romantic gesture- he shared the chocolates with Husky and Senri, saying that Nana had made them all some chocolate. Husky had even given her a look of pity when he clearly put together the misunderstanding.But she wasn’t the kind of girl to give up. She’d made a new plan. When Cooro asked her to join him on this camping trip he didn’t have any specific destination in mind, so she picked their destination. To the East not too far there was a small pond that had formed in the shape of a heart. She’d heard stories in the village about it, girls told romantic stories of proposals at sunset and dashing forbidden love affairs. While she didn’t plan on any marriage proposals or running away together, it would make for a scenic spot for a confession- maybe they would even kiss.

Feeling the heat rising in her face she shoved the map, into Cooro’s hands. “We should get going so we get there before dark.” She squeaked, instantly mortified by the consequence of her tight chest. “Okay.” He agreed chipperly, taking the lead. He held the map in one hand, excitedly pointing and urging she look at every pretty rock or cool thing he spotted. There was something so nostalgic about their quest that despite herself she found herself with some of the same childish excitement he had.However, neither one in their energy were taking care to make sure they stay on the same trail they’d started on; and Cooro only checked the map occasionally. And the golden rays that had been a warm blanket on their nostalgic trek dwindled, making Cooro haphazard map reading all the more questionable as he began to squint to make out the lines. “Can I see that?” Nana asked, feeling her heartbeat beginning to quicken. She didn’t like this. They should have arrived there by now. When Cooro nonchalantly handed her the map her she felt her hole body tighten, her hand slightly crumpling the map as they clenched the paper. This was definitely the same way he’d been looking at it, and it was upside down.

Cooro slightly tilted his head as he stared at Nana, “Something wrong?” he asked, clearly ignorant of his mistake. Nana sprouted her wings wordlessly, ordinarily she would have had plenty to say about this situation, but the sun was setting and there wasn’t anytime to waste. “We’re lost you idiot!” She shouted as she took off in flight. She didn’t even see his reaction before she was in the air, the world blurred by her tears. The trees, there branches so dense, blocked what little sun was left. Her sleeve tore as a branch caught it, as if grasping to pull her back down. Her breath was shaky and she felt a claustrophobic fear she hadn’t confronted in a long time.“Nana!” She heard Cooro call after her in the distance. Her feelings in the moment were far to raw for her to be quelled by her puppy love. As she emerged above the trees she gasped, it was like she could finally breath again. The world was still blurry, she was trying to regain her composure as fast as she could. She had yelled at Cooro. She had to apologize, so she wouldn’t be like him- her mind flashing memories of her father she had long since tried to bury. “Nana!” Cooro called again, this time as he practically tackled her in a hug.

With that hug any hope of Nana gracefully composing herself was gone, she hugged him in return and wailed into his broad shoulders. She said sorry over and over, her apologies being hardly discernable as her sobs wracked through her voice. He rubbed his hand on her back as he continued to listen to her. As her tears started to slow down her mind was finally able to return to this moment. But as crying so hard makes a person exhausted, rather than feeling embarrassment or shyness she just thought how remarkably kind Cooro was.“I’m sorry.” Cooro said in a soft and sad voice. Nana finally raised her head off his shoulder to meet his eyes. “You didn’t mea-” She started to pushback against his apology, it was an accident afterall- and wasn’t like they’d be stuck wandering the forest. But Cooro cut her off, “I shouldn’t have pushed for this… I just… I wanted to spend time with you like we used to.” There was a bittersweetness to his expression. “Cooro…” Nana softly responded.